Production and Development
In a November 2001 post on MarilynManson.com's message board, Manson stated that the band's fifth studio album would be "very much guitar driven," in spite of previous claims that it would be beat-oriented. He also revealed that he had been working on a remix of "The Fight Song" with Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison, and that he was collaborating with Tim Sköld on an original score for the forthcoming Resident Evil movie. On May 29, 2002, Sköld became an official band member when Twiggy Ramirez amicably left the group, citing creative differences.
Most of the songwriting effort on The Golden Age of Grotesque was shared between Tim Sköld, John 5 and Marilyn Manson. Instrumentally, the album is more beat-driven and electronic than previous releases, with several reviewers commenting that its sound is at times reminiscent of KMFDM — which is likely attributable to Sköld, as he was a member of KMFDM immediately prior to his arrival in Marilyn Manson. In a January 2008 interview with The Heirophant, Manson revealed that the majority of the albums' keyboard and synthesizer work was performed by him, and not the band's then-keyboardist, Madonna Wayne Gacy. Gacy, according to Manson, had displayed little to no interest in contributing creatively during early stages of the album's development, eventually detaching himself from the band to such a degree that he refused to attend studio sessions when informed by management of the band's intentions to begin recording in June 2002. As a result, Manson received musical composition credits for eleven of the fifteen tracks found on the record, in addition to his usual lyrical credits.
In May 2002, Manson began his long-term collaboration with the Austrian-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein by working on the album artwork and various other projects, including several exhibitions, as well as the artwork which accompanied Manson's essay for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Helnwein later expressed disappointment that this image was not selected as the album cover.
Three months prior to album release, The Mechanism of Desire, a two minute videoclip, was uploaded to MarilynManson.com on February 14, 2003, as an official introduction to The Golden Age of Grotesque era. It depicted the band in their new attire, consisting of suits resembling those of Nazi military bandsmen during the Second World War, accompanied by clips of Manson's then-girlfriend Dita Von Teese and close-ups of Manson's face. The video was accompanied by a soundtrack in which a speech by Alfred Hitchcock can be heard, followed by the audio of "Baboon Rape Party". The video is no longer available on Manson's official website.
Limited edition units of the album included a DVD titled Doppelherz (Double-heart), a 25-minute surrealist short film directed by Manson which features art direction by Helnwein, further extending on themes found on The Mechanism of Desire. The video was accompanied with a stream of consciousness spoken word recording of Manson from a year prior, in 2002, juxtaposed against an audio loop of "Thaeter". This pressing of the album is now out of print, and the film has yet to see standalone release.
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